New Canadian Copyright Laws Require ISPs To Retain, Share Illegal Download Info

BarbaraHudson writes: New Year's Day brought into force new Canadian copyright laws that go after people who download copyrighted materials online. From the article: "As of January 1st Internet service providers (ISPs) are required to pass along notices of alleged copyright infringement., something which used to be voluntary. ISPs must also retain records of the notices they receive and forward to users for at least six months in case a copyright owner decides to pursue legal action. Lawsuits could seek up to $5,000 for downloading copyrighted material for personal use, and up to $20,000 for a download that led to commercial gain.

ISPs are also now be required to provide your personal info, but only if the copyright owner sues. Search engines also have to remove cached versions of allegedly infringing material that have been removed from a website. Non-compliance allows copyright owners to pursue legal action and claim damages against them as well. Finally, a review of the Copyright Act every five years is now required."

Comments

The Best Politicians Money Can Buy

[rtb61]

Let me guess, a right wing government, always the best than money can buy.

Re:The Best Politicians Money Can Buy

[Grishnakh]

The Democrat party isn't left-wing, it's right-wing. It's just a different flavor of right-wing than the Republican party. The Republicans' good buddies are the oil and gas industries, the military contracting industries, and the gun industry. The Democrats' good buddies are the media companies/copyright industry and the big banks.

CAN WE STOP PAYING THE MEDIAT TARIF!

[Anonymous Coward]

For fuck sakes if we're going to go full on america up here can we get rid of the fucking tariff please

Outsourced internets

[Anonymous Coward]

Yep, that cha-ching sound you're hearing is the sound of VPN, Proxy, and seedbox providers in more freer countries taking New customers from Canada - welcome aboard :)

Re:Up to $5k...

[mrbcs]

The big thing that people miss is: They can only sue for the value of goods downloaded. AND they must prove that. No fishing.

This is not Canada bending over for Amerika, It's Harper saying "Screw you" you're not going to threaten Canadians.

If, for example, I go buy a movie, then download a version for my media centre, I have not committed a crime. I have paid for it. If I download it, and have not bought a copy, and they catch me, they can only sue me for $20 for the copy, not millions like the states.

There will not be any 6 million lawsuits here.

If the media companies weren't so stupid, they would price it properly and no-one would pirate. Who needs to pirate any songs anymore? I can just fire up Spotify and listen to whatever I want. If the movie industry ever pulls their heads out of their asses, we'll have the same for movies.

/rant